Matagalpa

Earthquakes near Matagalpa, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 6 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Matagalpa, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 3 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was a magnitude 7.3 on January 24, 1956 (Puerto Samoza).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Matagalpa in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.3 on December 23, 1972 (10 km N of Managua, Nicaragua), for which NOAA records 10,000 deaths. 10 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 13,464 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.5 on September 28, 2016 (Leon). NOAA lists one significant eruption of one volcano within 100 km of Matagalpa. The largest was Negro, Cerro on April 10, 1992, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 11 people by NOAA’s count.

The events

  • September 28, 2016Earthquake · M 5.5Leon · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • April 10, 1992Eruption · VEI 3Negro, Cerro · 11 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 23, 1972Earthquake · M 6.310 km N of Managua, Nicaragua · 10,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • October 24, 1956Earthquake · M 7.112 km SSW of Masachapa, NicaraguaUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 24, 1956Earthquake · M 7.3Puerto SamozaNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Matagalpa when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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